Davey, a search and rescue dog with Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, died a few months after retiring from service. The dog had spent more than nine years helping locate survivors after earthquakes in Turkey, Morocco and Venezuela.
His work also took him into 500 buildings in Venezuela, and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service said he was deeply missed by his handler Lindsay Sielski and her family, along with everyone at the service who had worked with him.
Davey and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service
Davey joined Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service in 2017 after being rehomed from the Dogs Trust, then trained to become a highly skilled urban search and rescue dog. The service said his career made him an exceptional working dog whose service stretched across international disaster-response deployments and public demonstrations at home.
He also became a much-loved ambassador for the Dogs Trust and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service through school visits, community events and demonstrations. Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service said he was recognised at Crufts for his achievements, and that he represented the UK in Switzerland during the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group external reclassification, held every five years to assess whether teams continue to meet the required level.
Jon Charters on Davey
The service said specialist veterinary care and a number of tests were unable to establish the cause of Davey’s illness. He had been unwell for the past two weeks before his death, leaving a final stretch of his story that ended without a medical explanation.
Chief fire officer Jon Charters said: "We will always be incredibly proud of him and grateful for his extraordinary service." Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service also named Davey as the International Fund for Animal Welfare's Animal of the Year for his search and rescue work, a recognition that set his later death against a career already marked by public honours and operational use.
